Don't Let Your Dreams Stay Dreams
I heard that phrase right before the new year, and at first, I was confused... But as I thought about it, I was struck by its poignant simplicity. We have all set New Years' Resolutions - those desires we have, often repeated from year to year, with the unstated understanding, that they may not happen... Our resolutions are in fact, not often very resolute. What if this year, you didn't make Resolutions, but you set Goals?
The old adage says, "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time." If you were to ask a room full of people if they believe in the power of written goals, every hand would shoot up. Yet if you asked them how many of them have written down their goals for this year, very few hands would go up.
Research has proven that those who write their goals down accomplish significantly more than those who do not write their goals, but many people have never been taught how to write effective goals. With that in mind, I wanted to offer a basic goal-setting primer. You can find plenty of advice online, but these are the 3 principles I follow in my own practice:
Keep them few in number. Productivity studies show that you really can’t focus on more than 5-7 items at any one time. And don’t try to cheat by including sections with several goals under each section. This is a recipe for losing focus and accomplishing very little. Instead, focus on a handful of goals that you can repeat almost from memory. I usually set 3-5 personal and 3-5 professional goals per season.
M.A.C. This is an acronym for the qualities of your goals. It stands for:
Measurable - What matters gets measured. If possible, try to quantify the result and put a deadline on it. You want to know absolutely, positively whether or not you hit the goal.
Bad: "Lose Weight"
Good: "Lose 15 pounds in 3 months."
Actionable - Every goal should start with an action verb (e.g., “quit,” “run,” “finish,” “eliminate,” etc.) rather than a to-be verb (e.g., “am,” “be,” “have,” etc.)
Bad: "Be more encouraging to my team."
Good: "Write a thank you note each week."
Challenging - Good goals should live in your "discomfort zone." They should stretch you, but you have to add a dose of common sense. I can easily go into the delusional zone, setting lofty, yet realistically unattainable goals... which is not helpful. But if my goals are not out of my comfort zone, I'm not thinking big enough. It is far better to set an ambitious goal and fail to reach it than set a reachable goal and miss reaching your full potential.
Bad: "Double the volunteers on my team."
Good: "Invite 2 new people to serve with me each month, and encourage other team members to do the same."
Write them down. This is critical. There is a huge power in writing your goals down, even if you have not developed an action plan yet. When you write something down, you are stating your intention and setting things in motion. You can review a written list, share it with another leader for encouragement, feedback, and accountability, and track your progress. You cannot do any of those things if they stay in your head.
I would encourage you to set some goals to help you achieve what matters most to you this year: personal goals, professional goals and some leadership goals.
I would love to hear your goals so that I can be praying for you as you make progress! You can let me know what you're aiming for HERE. Let's make 2017 our best leadership year yet!
[This article adapted "The Beginner's Guide to Goal Setting" by Michael Hyatt]